The 11-Month Birthday Post!

Air Saavan.

Saavan turned 11 months old yesterday! The countdown to his first birthday begins! It's all happening so fast! I'm horribly depressed!

At 11 months, Saavan is, undeniably, a big boy. The last couple of months have been all about Saavan crawling. Lately though, he's all about trying to walk, and he's fallen in love with a walker that his cousin Sohum let him borrow. Check it out:

Comin' at you!



I don't want to jinx it, but Saavan may not be too long for his walker. Last weekend we were at Bloomingdales and Saavan stood unassisted for three seconds. It was awe-inspiring. That Saavan could be walking soon is very terrifying, because Saavan doesn't want to walk, he wants to run. I'm exhausted chasing after him when he's just crawling.

I stood on my own?!? Holy cow.

At 11 months, Saavan is all about creating chaos out of order. He attacks the books on the bookshelf in his room, methodically pulling them out and dropping them on the floor. Once he is surrounded by a great pile of books, he looks at us, satisfied, and demands that we read him his favorite, "Beep Beep!" Recently he's discovered how to open drawers, and as a result our sock drawer has been subject to numerous Saavan-led attacks. The results are devastating, with socks strewn all about our bedroom (actually, given Saavan's undeveloped throwing arm, the socks are strewn in a one-foot radius around him, but still). Saavan is always trying to get into the dishwasher and take out the utensils, and he has now discovered the refrigerator. As soon as Neha or I opens the fridge door, he's in like a hawk, flying towards the salsa jars and determinedly trying to toss them on the floor. At 11 months, nothing is safe.

I'm in your dishwashers, dumping out your utensils.

At 11 months, Saavan has very clear likes and dislikes. He likes swinging on swings, and playing in the pool, and trying to walk. He dislikes getting off swings, having to shower after getting out of the pool, and not being able to walk. He also has one thing that he loves more than anything else in the world: ceiling fans. Saavan has never met a ceiling fan that he didn't want to stare (and wave) at endlessly. As with everything else he does, it's adorable, but maybe also a little bit strange. I'm not sure I can sufficiently describe it: he's obsessed. I mean, I guess it's fine for now, because Saavan is still a baby, be if he continues to stare down these ceiling fans once he turns one and waving at them, we're going to have to talk. Actually, Saavan's first birthday is just around the corner!

He'd better get his act together.

Hooray for more sweet photos!

Saavan with Nana on his most recent visit! (Nana is actually holding Saavan back to keep him from Nana's neatly-packed suitcase).
Saavan chilling in his stroller:
And an awesome photo from our trip to the Bahamas, which I failed to previously post: (A lot of people ask why I didn't write a blog entry about our awesome trip to the Bahamas with Kavi and the family Shah. The reason? I suck.)
Technically a 9-month photo, but too awesome to be kept under wraps.

Mother's Day!

On his first Mother's Day, Saavan takes a moment to reflect upon his dumb luck at being born to the world's best mom.

Yesterday we celebrated Neha's first mother's day, and I have to say, in the gift-giving department, Saavan and I totally dominated. Saavan and I got Neha (and I am totally serious when I say Saavan played a huge role in the process) a beautiful picture of himself and his mom, "photo fiddled" to look like a charcoal sketching. Truly beautiful. I'm not sure if Saav and Neha can match that gift on Father's Day. I mean, it's not like you can giftwrap Heidi Klum.

I make these pants work.

The rest of our Mother's day celebration included brunch with Kavi and the parents Shah, Riya and Veeral, who were in town this weekend. After eating with Kavi and Saavan at a fantastic little restaurant on a beautiful morning, I realized this: I'm never taking an infant to a restaurant again. Despite the fact that Saavan was fed and well-rested when we got to the restaurant, he was out of control. He wanted to grab and bang every utensil he could see, he attempted to eat multiple sugar packets, and at one point, he started yelling, in this tiny little restaurant, louder than we'd ever heard him before. Just because he could. Kavi, on the other hand, was far more civilized, choosing to only throw everything he could see on the restaurant floor. Including Veeral. To appease the children, we parents took turns walking them around the restaurant, pointing out all the interesting things we could find, and pleading the kids to sit quietly for just 5 minutes so that we could quickly inhale our food and get out of the restaurant without the waitstaff killing us. At one point, while I was walking Saavan around to put him to sleep, Neha offered Kavi a "home fry" from my plate. What Neha forgot was that I douse all my food in Tabasco, and so immediately upon putting the fry in his mouth, Kavi's eyes started watering and his head nearly exploded. It made for great entertainment. What can I say? Neha's got some mad parenting skillz.

Stripping down to his diaper was pretty much the only thing Saavan didn't do during brunch.

What redeemed brunch (aside from the fabulous food)? Seated next to us was a kindly older woman who couldn't help but laugh at our predicament. Which was pretty awesome. Even when the kids out of control, they're pretty entertaining. I mean, not necessarily for us, but for someone. So that's good. Although it may have caused me to forget that Saavan is an uncooperative restaurant baby. We went out with him again for sushi on Sunday night. Doh!

In the latest installment of the Kavi-Saavan series, Kavi shows little interest in Saavan's sweaty palms.

Our first Mother's Day has past! I can hardly believe it. And it's sad. Not so much that the day of celebrating moms is over, but because, in retrospect, my gift to Neha may have been a mistake. There's no way I'm topping the gift in year one. Crap. I hope Neha likes perfume, because I'm pretty sure that's what Saavan is buying her from here on out.

Happy Mother's Day moms!